Real Money

General Dynamics Misses Views

Revenue and earnings are both slightly shy of Wall Street's expectation.

General Dynamics ( GD) posted a 16% rise in fourth-quarter earnings from continuing operations, but the results were slightly shy of analysts' estimates.

The Falls Church, Va., defense contractor posted net income of $408 million, or $1.01 a share, up slightly from $406 million, or $1.01 a share, a year earlier.

Earnings from continuing operations, which exclude the sale of the company's coal operations, climbed to $463 million, or $1.13 a share, from the year-earlier $398 million, or 98 cents a share. On this basis, analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting earnings of $1.14 a share.